AS exam remark - is this just? Advice about how to challenge

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We sought a remark for our daughter's AS history exam. She was 2 marks off a B grade and but the remark took her grade taken down to a D. We have appealed, supported by her school, as her mark was taken down by 14 marks but to no avail. Surely there is something wrong with the marking process which allows an exam marker to be so wildly out of kilter with the marking template? While we accept her paper may only be worth a D, we would not have appealed if we thought the mark would be so radically changed. We think that the processes that the exam board took to ensure consistency must be flawed. We also feel that our daughter has been penalised because we got the paper remarked. We knew we risked a lower mark in the C band but could we really be have expected such a radically wrong mark on the original script? Any ideas about whether we are able to challenge this and how having exhausted the appeals process?

This is why you have to sign to say you understand the mark can go down as well as up. Grade boundaries are often close together so it may only be a matter if a few marks.

If it had gone up to an A would you have complained and thought it unjust?

We have always been told to that it might go up or down. It's the risk you take. If she had gained 14 marks, you wouldn't think it unjust.

Don;'t think you can challenge it. 2 marks off a B or 2 UMS?

2 marks as I understand it can be a lot ( and boundaries may be narrow so only a mark or 2 the oter side lies a D) whereas 2 UMS is only a little.

I do appreciate that grades go up and down and that grade boundaries are narrow. While the comment about going up to an A has some truth I would still be perplexed that an exam marking scheme was so radically flawed that a 14 mark swing was possible on a remark and that my daughter would have initially been denied an A grade.

My point is about the process of the marking board and the quality of markers. Surely this is flawed and my daughter's experience exposes this.

No, that's the wrong way around, Theas. 2 marks will always be 2 marks, but 2 marks may equate to 1 UMS in one exam or 2 UMS in another, etc. For instance, AQA History unit 1c taken in June 2014 have 2 UMS per mark at the bottom end of scores, then that narrows to 1 UMS per mark in the middle, then at the top end, any score between 68-72 points gave 100 UMS.

Different markers will read a script differently. They have a mark scheme but in qualitative subjects there will always be an element of judgement. On some questions there may be points allocated for the presence of certain words and others for the coherence of the answer.

What was your DD's predicted grade? Was 2 marks short of a B good or bad for her?

Honestly, 2 marks short of a B grade was good for her but it did reflect the work she had put in, in the run up to the exam. We thought we took a calculated risk that she was sufficiently 'safe' in the C band not to have such an impact.

I am afraid I am not as well versed in the marking system as you appear to be and still feel that a 14 point swing on a single paper is incredibly large even on a qualitative subject and could not be a predicted outcome.

Has there not been a fuss about the marking on some English script this year? Was that about the consistency of the marking too?

Did the school get the original marked papers back? If so I would ask to speak to the head of year/head of subject.

I was in a position earlier this year where one of my children had an A2 paper remarked. Despite a very obvious marking error (teachers opinion) it came back unchanged. Luckily the second one remarked went up and she got the mark she needed. She was 1 ums off the boundary.

I did consider a further appeal on the grounds that the examiners were not following their own marking key.

If you look on the exam boards website it should tell you what the grounds are and how to pursue - I think it was something like £200 though.

We had a history GCSE go up by 14 marks, so it sounds like it may have been a clerical error but an awful one!

We had a similar situation 1 mark off an A in maths and 3 off an A in biology but had the papers back first and a teacher had a look at them to see if there were any obvious additional marks - they didn't have the marking scheme but it was maths and sciences and teachers said that it would have been fairly obvious if there were any additional marks. There teachers didn't think so so we didn't persue the remarks in the end due to the risks.

Many thanks for these ideas/support. I feel like a little terrier. Regardless of what happens with my daughter - I think she may just have to resist the paper next year - I cannot get around the fact that such large discrepancies in marks can occur to both inflate and reduce a child's exam result when so much rests on them for the future opportunities.

My DD resat 2 AS papers in one subject along with her A2s. The school asked for copies of all 4 papers she sat this year (2 x As and 2 x A2) and the teacher found marking errors in 3 out of the 4. A very obvious marking error seemed to have been accepted on the remark which made me think the paper hadn't even been looked at! It was a science subject though.

I was furious, also because the exam had been so weird and off the wall that parts of it were undo able and the grade boundaries were low. I was so angry I would have done anything in my power regardless of cost to hold the exam board to account. In the end a paper with 2 borderline marking errors gained my DD an extra 4 ums - she had needed 1 ums for the A. Her career plans would have been in tatters otherwise. She had worked her guts out for the subject which she is not naturally good at.

I think in your case I would ask how such a major error was unnoticed the first time around. It really is unacceptable. I agree that there is a so much pressure on and dubious marking makes it worse. I could afford to get the scripts backs and pay for remarks - what happens to those that can't.

Essays papers are marked by human beings, there is inevitably going to be occasional slip ups. Obviously your DDs paper was wrongly marked for some reason, which came to light when you asked for a remark. It happens. tens of thousands of papers are marked every year, obviously there will be the occasional mistake.